September data shows sharpest iOS market share drop in months as Android gains
Apple’s new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were on sale for nearly a week in September, but that seemingly wasn’t enough time to curb the platform’s steepest market share decline in months.
NetMarketShare is a well-respected market research firm that monitors web traffic and uses that data to calculate market share, though “usage share” might be a more appropriate term. Where mobile platforms are concerned, the company’s data for the month of September shows a relatively sharp drop in share for Apple’s mobile device lineup, while Android enjoyed its biggest gain in months.
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The world’s biggest Android vulnerability just got even worse
Sorry, Android users: News about the Stagefright vulnerability isn’t getting any better. Motherboard’s Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai brings us word that Joshua Drake, a researcher at Zimperium zLabs, has found a new Stagefright vulnerability that lets hackers break into your phone just by tricking you into visiting a website that contains a compromised MP3 or MP4 file. And just like the first Stagefright vulnerabilities uncovered, this new one affects almost every Android device now in use around the world.
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Apple’s 16GB iPhone scheme is working
Despite rumors to the contrary, Apple once again launched entry-level iPhone models with just 16GB of internal storage this year. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus both start at 16GB, and neither phone supports expandable memory.
Why, in 2015, does Apple continue to insist on selling iPhones with just 16GB of storage? I have explained it a dozen times before here on the site, so here’s the abridged version: Apple has better margins on more expensive iPhones, and the perceived value of the jump in storage from 16GB at the low end to 64GB in the middle of the pack encourages people to buy the pricier model.
Love it or hate it, it worked well for Apple with the iPhone 6. And according to the results of a new study, it’s working even better with the iPhone 6s.
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Facebook is about to get a big update: How to set up a GIF as your profile image
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it’s making some significant changes to its mobile apps, most of them concerning your personal profile. For the first time, the company will let people use videos instead of profile pictures on iPhone and Android, to give them an even better way to show off their online identities. The new features are currently being tested by a number of users in the U.K. and California, and will be rolled out to all Facebook mobile users in the near future.
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Credit cards change forever starting today – here’s what you need to know
Whether you know it or not, today marks the start of an important new era for credit cards, which are beginning an official transition to EMV technology this month. For those of you who haven’t heard, newly issued cards will now use microchips installed on the front of cards to register payments with stores instead of the traditional magnetic strips. This change will make credit cards more secure overall but it won’t happen all at once. Below we’ll go over what this means for credit card users.
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10 awesome paid iPhone apps on sale for free today
We have something to tell you and we really hope you’re sitting down: it’s already the fourth quarter. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the new year, and now the new year is almost over. But don’t worry, there are still plenty of paid iPhone and iPad apps on sale for free to be enjoyed before 2016 rolls around.
Today, we’ve got 10 premium apps for you that are all on sale for free for a limited time — and definitely check out yesterday’s post as well, where you’ll find a few more freebies that haven’t yet expired.
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Last chance: One more day to enjoy big savings on 10 different Chromebooks from Amazon
Last week, we told you about a great sale Amazon was having on open-box Chromebooks, potentially saving you big bucks on a perfectly good Chromebook that has been previously returned. The good news is that this sweet sale is still going, so it’s not too late to save big. But the bad news is that you only have one more day to jump on this deal, because it expires tomorrow at midnight.
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The 4 most annoying problems with the iPhone 6s
The iPhone 6s is now in the hands of millions of consumers who helped Apple set a new iPhone sales record this past weekend. The phone is better than its predecessor in every way, but that doesn’t mean the device is free of all flaws. After a recent report detailed a potentially annoying overheating issue affecting some users, other people have noticed four more issues that might affect overall iPhone 6s experience.
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Update your iPhone to iOS 9.0.2 right now if you want to stop a huge security flaw
Last month, we were one of the first sites to tell you about a serious security flaw in iOS that allowed anyone to quickly and easily access your contacts, photos and more without having to know your PIN. The flaw involved entering an incorrect PIN several times and then triggering Siri, which then opened up the door to a wealth of private data. Some Apple fans tried to downplay the flaw, but it looks like Apple fully understood just how severe it was, because the company has addressed it in a brand new version of iOS.
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5 Nexus 5X and 6P secrets explained (including the silly name choices)
Google unveiled the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P during a special media event on Tuesday, though the company wasn’t really able to surprise Nexus fans with its announcements. Multiple thorough leaks revealed the design, specs, features and pricing for the two new handsets well ahead of the event.
However, Google revealed additional details about the devices during a special Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) session on Reddit. Among other things, the company explained the new product names, the lack of wireless charging, and the weaker camera performance on the Nexus 5X.
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